Recovered In Christ

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Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Deceived!

WORLD-WIDE DECEPTION DISCLOSED IN THE APOCALYPSE

War is the keyword of the Apocalypse; war on a scale undreamed of by mortal man; war between vast angelic powers of light and darkness; war by the dragon, and the deceived world-powers upon the saints; war by the same world-powers against the Lamb; war by the dragon upon the Church; war in many phases and forms, until the end when the Lamb overcomes, and they also overcome who are with Him, called and chosen and faithful (Rev. 17: 14).

The world is now drawing nearer to the “time of the end,” characterized by the deception depicted in the Apocalypse as being world-wide; when there will be deception of nations, and individuals, on such a vast scale that the deceiver will practically have the whole earth under his control. Ere this climax is reached there will be preliminary stages of the deceiver’s working, marked by the widespread deception of individuals, both within and without the Church, beyond the ordinary condition of deception in which the unregenerate world is lying.

To understand why the deceiver will be able to produce the world-wide deception depicted in the Apocalypse, which will permit the supernatural powers to carry out their will, and drive nations and men into active rebellion against God, we need clearly to grasp what the Scriptures say about unregenerate men in their normal condition, and the world in its fallen state.

If Satan is described in the Apocalypse as the deceiver of the whole earth, he has been so from the beginning. “The whole world lieth in the evil one” (1 John 5: 19), said the Apostle, to whom was given the Revelation, describing the world as already lying deep in darkness through the deception of the evil one, and blindly led by him through vast evil spirit hosts under his control.

THE WORD “DECEIVED” THE DESCRIPTION OF EVERY UNREGENERATE MAN

The word “deceived” is, according to the Scripture, the description of every unregenerate human being, without distinction of persons, race, culture, or sex. “We also were . . . deceived” (Titus 3: 3), said Paul the Apostle, although in his “deceived” condition he was a religious man, walking according to the righteousness of the law, blameless (Phil. 3: 6).

Every unregenerate man first of all is deceived by his own deceitful heart (Jer. 17: 9; Isa. 44: 20), and deceived by sin (Heb. 3: 13); the god of this world adding the “blinding of the mind” lest the light of the gospel of Christ should dispel the darkness (2 Cor. 4: 4). And the deception of the evil one does not end when the regenerating life of God reaches the man, for the blinding of the mind is only removed just so far as the deceptive lies of Satan are dislodged by the light of truth.

Even though the heart is renewed, and the will has turned to God, yet the deeply ingrained disposition to self-deception, and the presence, in some measure, of the blinding power of the deceiver on the mind, betrays itself in many forms, as the following statements from Scripture show :

– The man is deceived if he is a hearer, and not a doer of the Word of God (Jas. 1: 22).
– He is deceived if he says he has no sin (1 John 1: 8).
– He is deceived when he thinks himself to be “something” when he is nothing (Gal. 6: 3).
– He is deceived when he thinks himself to be wise with the wisdom of this world. (1 Cor. 3: 18).
– He is deceived by seeming to be religious, when an unbridled tongue reveals his true condition (Jas. 1: 26).
– He is deceived, if he thinks he will sow, and not reap what he sows (Gal. 6: 7).
– He is deceived, if he thinks the unrighteous will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6: 9).
-He is deceived, if he thinks that contact with sin will not have its effect (1 Cor. 15: 33) upon him.

Deceived! How the word repels, and how involuntarily every human being resents it as applied to himself, not knowing that the very repulsion is the work of the deceiver, for the purpose of keeping the deceived ones from knowing the truth, and being set free from deception. If men can be so easily deceived by the deception arising from their own fallen nature, how eagerly will the forces of Satan seek to add to it and not diminish it by one iota. How keenly will they work to keep men in bondage to the old creation, out of which will spring multitudinous forms of self-deception, enabling them the more readily to carry on their deceiving work. Their methods of deception are old and new, adapted to suit the nature, state, and circumstances of the victim. Instigated by hatred, malice, and bitter ill-will towards mankind and all goodness, the emissaries of Satan do not fail to execute their plans, with a perseverance worthy to be imitated by him who fain would reach his goal.

SATAN THE DECEIVER ALSO OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD

The arch-deceiver is not only the deceiver of the whole unregenerate world, but of the children of God also; with this difference, that in the deception he seeks to practise upon the saints, he changes his tactics, and works with acutest strategy, in wiles of error, and deception concerning the things of God (Matt. 24: 24; 2 Cor. 11: 3, 13, 14, 15).

The chief weapon which the deceiver-prince of darkness relies upon to keep the world in his power, is deception, and deception planned to beguile men at every stage of life; deception (1) of the unregenerate who are already deceived by sin; (2) deception suited to the carnal Christian; (3) and deception fitted to the spiritual believer, who has passed out of the preceding stages into a realm where he will be open to meet more subtle wiles. Let the deception be removed which holds the man in the earlier days of his unregenerate condition, and in the stage of the carnal Christian life; when he emerges into the heavenly places, described by Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians, he will find himself in the very keenest workings of the wiles of the deceiver, where the deceiving spirits are actively at work attacking those who are united to the risen Lord.  –Jesse Penn-Lewis, War On the Saints; Chapter One http://www.acts1711.com/wots.html

Dear God – reveal to me any workings of Satan in my life. Help me to keep turning my focus and attention to you, instead of succumbing to the temptaion to look within myself for answers. Teach me the difference between taking my personal inventory correctly in light of your tuth versus introspection. Teach me the difference between the workings of your Light on my mind and soul versus the workings of counterfeit light. Thank you God that you refuse to settle for your children to be anything other than totally Free. I love you. Amen